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Customers purchase sashimi lunchboxes at drive-thru stations set up in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province. (provided by the city of Yeosu)

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the “drive-thru” approach adopted for conveniently testing people while they remain in their vehicles has been evolving. The emergence of drive-thru book and toy lending services at libraries has now been followed up with the arrival of drive-thru sashimi restaurants.

On Mar. 28 and 29, the city of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, is launching drive-thru sashimi sales in the parking lot of the Jangsu Village roadside rest area in the township of Hwayang, which stands at the entrance of a suspension bridge between Yeosu and Goheung County. Intended as a way of helping out fishers who are struggling amid the coronavirus outbreak, the establishment sells assorted raw fish in conjunction with the Yeosu seafood industry managers’ association.

Yeosu previously sold 20 million won (US$16,528) worth of assorted sashimi by drive-thru between Mar. 21 and 22. Selling for 20,000 won (US$16.52) a piece, lunchboxes of sliced rockfish and gray mullet packed with steamed abalone proved quite popular.

“This was launched amid a difficult situation for fish farming households as raw fish consumption has declined,” the city explained. The city of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, also sold sashimi lunchboxes by drive-thru near Homigot and Guryongpo Beach with the Pohang Fish Farming Association on Mar. 14-15.

A drive-thru station set up in the parking lot of a library lends toys in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. (provided by the city of Jeonju)

Non-interactive drive-thru book lending has also been a popular service. Five Gwangsan District libraries in Gwangju are lending books by drive-thru as they remain closed (Jangdeok, Story Flower, High-Tech, Singa, and Unnam Children’s). Users can visit the Gwangsan Library homepage to request a book to collect at the library’s parking facility the following day. Wando County Library in South Jeolla Province has also been operating a limited-time drive-thru lending service since Mar. 12.

Toys are also available for borrowing from the comfort of people’s cars. The city of Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, has introduced a first-ever drive-thru lending service for toys. The service is intended for parents who have had to keep their infants and young children at home as the coronavirus outbreak has stretched on. In North Jeolla Province, the city of Jeonju has also set up lending tents at toy library parking facilities to lend out toys. Users can view a list of items at the websites of Jeonju’s Yaho Toy Library and Central Support Center for Childcare to make telephone reservations, with toys available for pickup when a membership card is presented at the lending booth.

By Jung Dae-ha and Kim Yong-hee, Gwangju correspondents, and Park Im-keun, North Jeolla correspondent

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